OLDSMOBILE SILHOUETTE 1993 Owner's Guide

Q: What’s wrong with this?
A: The belt is twisted across the body.
bAU I IUlV
A
You can be seriously injured
by a twisted belt.
In a crash,
you wouldn’t have the
full width of
the belt to spread impact forces. If
a belt is twisted, make it straight
so it can work properly, or ask
I your dealer to fix it.
To unlatch the belt, just push the button
on the buckle. The belt should go back
out of the way.
Before you close the door, be sure the
belt
is out of the way. If you slam the
door on it, you can damage both the belt
and your vehicle.
Satety Belt Use During
Pregnancy
Safety belts work for everyone,
including pregnant women. Like all
occupants, they are more likely to be
seriously injured if they don’t wear
safety belts.
A pregnant woman should wear a lap-
shoulder belt, and the lap portion should
be worn as low
as possible throughout
the pregnancy.
The best way to protect the fetus is to
protect the mother. When a safety belt is
worn properly, it’s more likely that the
fetus won’t be hurt
in a crash. For
pregnant women, as for anyone, the key
to making safety belts effective is
wearing them properly.
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Seats & Safety Belts
30
Right Front Passenger Position
The right front passenger’s safety belt
works the same way as the driver’s
safety belt. See the
Index under Driver
Position.
Rear Seat Passengers
It’s very important for rear sear
passengers to buckle up! Accident statistics show that unbelted people in
the rear seat are hurt more often in
crashes than those who are wearing:
safety belts.
Rear passengers
who aren’t safety belted
can be thrown out of the
vehicle in a
crash. And they can strike others in the
vehicle who are wearing safety belts.
Rear Seat Outside Passenger
Positions
The positions next to the windows have
lap-shoulder belts.
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158 I
Here’s How to Wear One Properly:
1, Pick up the latch plate and pull the
belt across
you. Don’t let it get
twisted.
2. Push the latch plate into the buckle
until it clicks.
If the belt stops before it reaches the
buckle, tilt the latch plate and keep
pulling until you can buckle
it.
If the belt is not long enough, see the
Index under Safety Belt Extender.
Make sure the release button on the
buckle faces upward or outward
so
you would be able to unbuckle it
quickly if you ever had to.
Y
3. To make the lap part tight, pull down
on the buckle end
of the belt as you
pull up on the shoulder part.
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Seats & Safety Beks
1
i
I
32
Rear Seat Outside Passenger
Positions
(CONT)
The lap part of the belt should be worn
low and snug on the hips, just touching
the thighs.
In a crash, this applies force
to the strong pelvic bones. And you’d be
less likely to slide under the lap belt.
If
you slid under it, the belt would apply
force at your abdomen. This could cause
serious or even fatal injuries. The
shoulder belt should go over the shoulder and across the chest. These
parts of the body are best able to take
belt restraining forces. The
safety belt locks
if there’s a sudden
stop or a crash.
You can be seriously hurt if
/. your shoulder belt is too
loose. In a crash you would move
forward too much, which could
increase injury. The shoulder belt
should fit against your body. To
unlatch the belt, just push the button
on the buckle.
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Center Passenger Position
When you sit in the center position
bucket seat, you have a lap safety belt
which has a retractor. 1 . Pick up the latch plate and, in a
single motion, pull
the belt across
you. Don’t let it get twisted.
2. Push the latch plate into the buckle
until it clicks.
If the belt stops before
it reaches the buckle, let it go back
all the way and
start again.
1
4. Position and release it the same way
as the lap part of a lap-shoulder belt.
If the belt isn’t long enough, see the
Index under Safety Belt Extender.
Make sure the release button on the
buckle faces upward or outward
so
you would be able to unbuckle it
quickly
if you ever had to.
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Seats & Safety Belts
34
Center Passenger Position (CONT.)
The center position bucket seat is a
CENTER OR LEFT type seat.
Because it is the
only bucket seat with a
lap belt, and has a buckle on only one
side, there are certain places a
CENTER OR LEFT type bucket seat
should, and should not, be used. See the
Index under Seat Controls.
If the CENTER OR LEFT bucket seat
is used on the left side of the vehicle,
the person sitting there should use the
lap-shoulder belt.
It works the same way
as the driver’s safety belt, See the
Index
under Driver Position.
Children
Everyone in a vehicle needs protection!
That includes infants and all children
smaller than adult size. In fact, the law
in every state and Canadian province
says children up to some age must be
restrained while
in a vehicle. Smaller
children and babies
should always be restrained in
a chiId or infant restraint. The
instructions for the restraint wiU
--y whether it is the right type and
for your child. A very young
child’s hip bones are so small that
a regular belt might not stay low
on the hips, as it should. Instead,
the belt will likely be over the
child’s abdomen. In a crash the
belt would apply force right on the
child’s abdomen, which could
cause serious or fatal injuries. So,
be sure that any child small enough
for one is always properly
*strained
in a chiid or infimt
straint.
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W
XI1 101
CAUTION I
Never hold a baby in your
arms while riding in a vehicle.
A baby doesn’t weigh much-until
a crash. During a crash a baby will
become
so heavy you can’t hold it.
For example, in a crash at only
25 mph
(40 Wh), a 12-pound
(5.5 kg) baby will suddenly
become a 240-pound
(ll0 kg) forc- I
on your arms. The baby would bL
almost impossible to hold.
(Continued)
I I
CAUTION
A
(Continued)
Secure the baby in an infant
restraint.
Child Restraints
Be sure to follow the instructions for the
restraint. You may find these
instructions on the restraint itself or in a
booklet, or both. These restraints use
the belt system
in your vehicle, but the
child
also has to be secured within the
restraint to help reduce the chance
of
personal injury. The instructions that
come with the infant or child restraint
will show you how to do that.
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Seats & Safety Belts
36
Where to Put the Restraint
Accident statistics show that children are
safer if they are restrained in the rear
rather than the front seat. We at General
Motors therefore recommend that you
put your child restraint
in the rear seat
unless the child is
an infant and you're
the only adult in the vehicle. In that
case, you might want to secure the
restraint in the front seat where you can
keep an eye
on the baby.
Wherever you install it, be sure
to
secure the child restraint properly.
CAUTION
A
An unsecured child restraint
can move around
in a collision
or sudden stop and injure people
in
the vehicle. Be sure to properly
secure any child restraint
in your I
vehicle-even when no child is in it.
I
Top Strap
If your child restraint has a top strap, it
should be anchored. Anchor brackets for the
second row
outside positions are located just above
the place where the third row lap-
shoulder belts meet the
floor. There's a
vinyl sleeve there; to get to the bracket,
push this vinyl sleeve aside slightly. Anchor the top strap to the bracket.
If you need to have an anchor bracket
installed for
any additional passenger
seat position, you
can ask your
Oldsmobile dealer
to put it in for you. If
you want to install an anchor bracket
yourself, your dealer can tell you how to
do it.
Once you have the top strap anchored,
you'll
be ready to secure the child
restraint itself.
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Securing a Child Restraint in an
Outside Position
You’ll be using the lap-shoulder belt.
See the earlier section about the top
strap if the child restraint has one.
1 . Put the restraint on the seat. Follow
the instructions for the child
restraint.
2. Secure the child in the child restraint
as the instructions say.
3. Pull out the vehicle’s safety belt and
run the lap part through or around
the restraint. The child restraint
instructions will show you how. Tilt
the latch plate
to adjust the belt if
needed.
See if the shoulder belt would
go in
front of the child’s face or neck. If
so, put it behind the child restraint.
4. Buckle the belt. Make sure the
release button faces upward or
outward,
so you’ll be able to un-
buckle it quickly if you ever need to.
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Seats & Safety Belts
38
L :'
Securing a Child Restraint in an
Outside Position (CONT:)
5. To tighten the belt, pull up on the
shoulder belt while you push down
on the child restraint.
I
6. Push and pull the child restraint in
different directions to be sure it is
secure.
To remove the child restraint, just
unbuckle the vehicle's safety belt and let it go back all
the way. The safety belt
will move freely again and be ready to
work for an adult or larger child
passenger.
I . :" -,.< :1 L ~
Securing a Child Restraint in the
Center Seat Position
You'll be using the lap belt. See the
earlier section about the top strap
if the
child restraint has
one.
1. Put the restraint on the seat. Follow
the instructions for the child
restraint.
as
the instructions say.
2. Secure the child in the child restraint
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